


Jungle Paradise

by Mewwy



Series: Codas for Season 3 [10]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 11:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mewwy/pseuds/Mewwy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve regrets not going home with his family. Coda for 3.10.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jungle Paradise

"How's the arm?" Steve asks as they walk away from the dead.

Danny grumbled. "It's decided it doesn't like the jungle either."

"You did well tracking us," Steve smiled, as they headed back to the trail.

With a stressed laugh Danny looked at Steve and offered, "With the spiders, gun shots, and criminals it was easy."

Steve reached out to stop Danny. "Come here." He sympathized, pulling Danny into a hug. Feeling the stress in the man under his arms Steve kissed Danny's forehead. "You save me D."

There was a snicker and a nod against Steve's chest. "Again."

Steve laughed heartedly. "Yes, again." The two men stood like that for a few minutes, hands rubbing and soft kisses to reassure each other that they had once again made it through together.

"Excuse me." Chin comes up from behind the cuddling men. "Lucy is safe back down the trail. What about your guy?"

Without breaking the clinch Steve said, "Dead thanks to Danny."

"Okay." Standing quietly for a minute Chin nodded at the men, who weren’t looking at him at all then added, "The CSIs will need the body."

Finally breaking apart they smiled at Chin. "Okay then, let's do this." Steve headed back down the hill with Danny and Chin on his heels.

*********************************

Sometime later, Steve was lying in bed reviewing the day. Danny and Grace were on a camping adventure at Danny's new place leaving Steve alone which gave him time to think through the events of the weekend.

Keeping Lucy calm wasn't something he thought he had in him. When Danny had asked coming with him and the Aloha Girls Steve jumped at the chance to show his skills to the girls. Also, he looked forward to spending the camping trip with Danny, zipping their sleeping bags together and cuddling throughout the night since, Danny was very much not a man of the jungle. Sadly that didn't come to pass and probably never would again.

Rolling onto his side, Steve rubbed the pillow on Danny's side of the bed wishing he was there with him so he could bundle him up and lavish him with love. Just then his phone buzzed an incoming text. He rolled back over and grabbed his phone. He smiled when he saw who it was and what it said. "G'night Uncle Steve. XOXOxoxo."

Smiling, Steve typed in his response. "Sleep well sweetie. Love you too."

A quick buzz meant her reply. "You, too!!!!"

Laying his phone on his chest, Steve smiled in the moonlit room. His family was 30 minutes away and he missed them. Steve tried not to interfere with Danny's weekends with Grace, (Not that Danny hadn't invited him to join them, Danny had), but based on how Danny was acting, Steve knew he'd probably screwed up a little with wanting to show the girls how to hunt a boar. Steve still thought it was an important lesson to learn.

Steve dozed a little but instantly woke when his phone buzzed again, "Hey babe." A bright, goofy smile crossed Steve's face. All his family was checking in.

With his goofy grin firmly in place, Steve texted back, "Hey Rambo. You are my hero!"

Sometimes it took time for Danny to respond because of his goofy thumbs. So it was a surprise when he got a quick reply. "Rambo huh?" I'm not in the Navy Steve!"

Laughing, Steve could envision Danny with his hands on his hips. "You are my hero Danno and Rambo is the Army!" Pausing before he sends the text Steve adds, "How's the arm?"

Lying in bed considering what his plans are for the next day Steve feels the phone buzz. "Still hates the outdoors and camping, but indoor camping seems to agree with it." A second text immediately followed afterwards. "It hurts, but is okay."

Sighing, Steve texted back, "You should have come here. At least I have a backyard. And beer." Chuckling to himself, he sent the text.

"Inside is much better, we have running water, showers, and NO jungle!!" Danny responded.

Steve volleyed back, "You're getting better at texting at least. Where are you?"

"Couch. Grace is asleep in the tent. Miss you and I can text very well. Thank you very much."

Steve chuckled to himself as he responded, "Oh, yes Danny. You are known for your texting talent!!"

"I have many abilities. Besides, Kono has been teaching me. For example, did you know that if you were laying down, something hot to say is 'rub it bitch, wanna c u wet'."

Steve just about lost it. His Danno was trying to sext? Steve was laughing so hard he dropped his phone and it slid somewhere into the sheets. It's tell-tale buzz alerted him to it's whereabouts and that he had a new text.

Finding his phone he read Danny's next text. "Srsly! Fuk that palm bitch! I want u drippin!!!"

Smiling, Steve replied to Danny. "You have some well spoken thumbs." He laughed and then added "Besides u always make me wet and hard!!"

"Sadly, as hard as I am, I am not enjoying myself with Grace 5 feet away."

Shaking with mirth Steve replied rapidly. "Well, you DID start it."

Danny was quick to reply, "And I'm calling it. Besides I have a bone to pick with you. A boar Steven? Srsly???"

Shaking his head, Steve knew he wouldn't win on this conversation, but he liked to imagine the pacing, arm flailing, whirling dervish of a man he loved. Some fights were worth fighting and without Danny being there it wouldn't be as fun. "Sorry Danno." He texted to Danny in apology.

There was no response for almost 5 minutes as his phone lay on his chest mocking him. Maybe he had screwed up? Maybe he shouldn't have apologized? Sometimes stopping a ‘Danny rant’ could be hazardous to ones health.

As he grabbed his phone it rang. Seeing Danny and Grace smiling at him he knew it was Danny. "I'm really sorry." Steve spoke.

Danny let out a quiet, deep chuckle. "Two apologies in 5 minutes, should I worry?" Danny teased.

"No." Steve chuckled back.

"Good." Steve then heard shuffling of feet from Danny's side of the phone call. "So I'm on the front porch now, not the living room." Danny added. 

Putting his arm behind his head, Steve relaxed back down onto the bed. "Got it, so what's up?"

Danny sighed. "We miss you. Do you know Lucy is going to marry you when she gets older?" He dramatically paused and both men laughed. "Can you help me here, because I cannot possibly understand why you would teach 10 year old girls!! Girls, Steven! How to hunt a boar? Why not how to gather and make fresh water? Or what flora and fauna is safe to eat? Or tracking? A boar?? Really???"

Steve just listened as he waited the rant out. He knew Danny would wind down eventually so Steve lay there and waited the silence out. When the silence went on too long he realized it was time for him to speak, but before he could say anything he was interrupted. "You have nothing to say?" Danny’s voice was soft and sounded resigned.

Sighing and scrubbing his face Steve confessed "It isn't that. Just because they’re girls, do we want to treat them like they can't do the same things as boys? Do we want to tell them at such an early age they aren't equal to boys? Danny they won't grow up to be confident in themselves if they aren't treated as equals." 

Danny grumbled into the phone. "I guess not, but it doesn't mean they need to hunt a boar."

"The boar might have been a tad too much, but Danny they live on these islands and it isn't a suburb or a city. Half the island is covered in jungle. Anything could happen." Steve admitted his voice now soft. Steve didn't want to remind Danny of all the shit Grace went through last year with the kidnapping and Rick. Also, Steve didn't want to overstep Danny's parenting skills so he carefully pointed, "Learning skills was kind of the point Danny."

"Skills yes, but boar hunting isn't needed. Dammit Steve!" He sounded upset. "Couldn't you have taught them how to take down a suspect instead? What the hell am I saying? That was probably on the agenda after boar hunting. Shit." Steve waited Danny out this time. Maybe the boar was a bad idea, but the girls deserved to learn something besides how to make necklace leis. "Jesus Steve. For the third time in 3 years my baby had a gun in her face from some moron connected to Five-0 or Stan or me." The last was said softly.

"This time it wasn't anyone's fault Danny. Those girls were amazing under pressure and you getting shot. Lucy was a trooper. Gracie is doing great in her self defense classes. Maybe the Aloha Girls should take a few classes after what happened?" Steve paused; his words as quiet as Danny's.

"What those girls are going to need is therapy, Steve. My little girl had to crawl underneath a building to free us. This was after she witnessed the troop leader, who is a fine ER nurse; remove a bullet from my arm. All those girls are going to be afraid to ever set foot in the jungle again. And I can't blame them." Danny growled with anger. "And you know the stupidest part of the whole weekend? You wanted them to hunt a boar and after everything that happened that is the sanest part of the weekend."

Smiling into the dark, Steve knew that was the most permission he would ever get for him to teach the girls to hunt a boar. Danny would forever deny it and refuse that Steve having the girls' hunt a boar would be something sane, in Danny's words. "Danny. The girls may need therapy but they all did an incredible job keeping calm about the situation. The adults who were left behind gave them jobs to do, allowed them to help, and that will go a long way to them healing over this incident. Don't beat yourself up! Don't sell them short Danno. I think they are pretty strong already. They are going to make incredible adult women!"

"That’s the thing Steven." He gripes out taking a breath. "They’re babies still. They’re 10 year old girls… Babies, Steven. They should never have had to experience this. Dammit." 

Steve can hear the scuffling of feet again and he knows Danny is pacing and he SO badly wants to hold Danny while he goes through this moment in time. Why the hell did he let them go back to Danny's? Hell, why didn't he go with them?? Space, his brain supplied him. You were giving them time for themselves and space. 

He isn't sure how long he waits for Danny because Steve knows there is nothing he can say to make Danny feel less frustrated and guilty. Hell, Steve felt that way himself. Why did these events always end like this? It was like neither he nor Danny could have anything nice.

"Did you fall asleep?" Danny said softly, as if he was afraid to wake him.

"No."

Danny sighed then softly groaned out, "I'm sorry."

"Danny, if it’s anybody's fault it’s Ron's. He kidnapped me and Lucy, locked all of you in the shed, and shot an unarmed man." Steve paused, but he knew his words wouldn't absolve either of them of the guilt they were feeling. "Or it is Hines's fault for the idea for the heist? We can't take on this guilt."

"Yeah," Danny said softly almost a sigh. Steve waited for Danny. It was always a silly idea to interrupt Danny in a rant, but in a thought process it could be just as troublesome. "You know the worse part?" Danny muttered. "This weekend was supposed to be a simple, safe camping trip. I admit I hate the jungle, well anywhere that isn't the city, but the girls were supposed to have a good time and learn basic skills. Now they will need shrinks and therapy and medications. They'll have nightmares, flashbacks, and they are just babies." The words were just tumbling out now.

"Stop it." Steve said firmly. "You don't know any of that. Did Grace need all of that after Rick? Did she have those?" Steve wasn't going to pause and let Danny get a word in edgewise. "She needed therapy because she had nightmares that you died, but she had no nightmares or any of those things. You are simply borrowing trouble Danno. You need to stop."

Both men were silent. Steve didn't hear anything in the background so he guessed Danny wasn't pacing at the moment. It was hard for Steve, he knew he could be dressed and at Danny's in 25 minutes, 20 with lights and sirens, to wrap his arms around Danny so he could have his breakdown with Steve there. Did Danny not think those thoughts went through Steve's head? He thought. Those little girls were traumatized and are going to need help for a long time to come. The great thing about kids is they do bounce back. 

Scratching his stomach Steve realized he was still wearing his shirt and boxer briefs. Steve hadn't even fully dressed when he crawled into bed. Punching the speakerphone option Steve laid the phone on Danny's pillow and finished getting dressed. Sleep pants on, shirt off. Laying back down Steve grabbed his phone and placed it back on his chest. Danny had been quiet for almost 10 minutes now. "Danno?" He asked softly.

"This sucks!" Danny stated sounding tired.

"Go snuggle with Gracie and get some sleep Danny. It's been a long weekend." The last thing he wanted to do was let Danny go, but Steve also knew there was little he could do. Danny had to accept what had happened this weekend, accept that they both, and the girls, did everything right. It was just outside circumstances that caused the weekend to spiral.

"Yeah. That sounds like a good plan babe. Look, since you get up and drag the sun into the day why don't you come over for breakfast before work and school?"

Smiling into the darkness Steve chuckled. "I drag the sun into the day?"

"Yeah well, you get up at oh, dark thirty to swim and workout. So I figure you swam out and dragged the sun back to the islands." Danny laughed quietly.

Steve grinned because at least Danny was now laughing. Maybe not loudly and boisterously, but he was laughing. "On that note… Good night Danno. I love you."

"I love you too, SuperSEAL."

Steve heard the beep as his phone disconnected. It took everything in his power to lay his phone on the bedside table and not get up and get dressed to go to Danny's. He knew Danny wouldn't send him away. In fact, he was pretty sure Danny would be happy for Steve to come over, but Steve wasn't going to do that. He was going to stay right here in his bed and sleep. Then he would get up at 5, swim, clean up and be at Danny's by 7 for breakfast.

Now that all that was settled, Steve rolled onto his side and grabbed Danny's pillow and clutched it. "I miss you Danno." Snuggling down with the pillow Steve drifted off to sleep.

 

Finis

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and crit are always welcome.  
> Beta'd by the wonderful goddess StaceyK1968
> 
> I fiddled some after she fixed the story. So all the remaining errors are mine.


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